“Mirror Mirror” Review

Every year, it seems Hollywood produces a new, “fresh” take on a classic fairy tale for their eager young audiences. We grew up with adorable movies like “Ella Enchanted”, “Shrek,” and “Hoodwinked”. They all seemed to have something new to bring to the fable: Ella was cursed to obey all commands; Shrek gave you the other side of every single fairy tale we knew and loved; and Little Red Riding Hood just had way more sass than the original story. These were the fun, sweet movies that were true to their storybook roots and, more importantly, put an original twist on the tales we grew up with. But if you’re looking for the newest spin on your favorite legend, don’t waste your time on “Mirror Mirror”.

Be sure not to confuse “Mirror Mirror” with “Snow White and the Huntsman,” the other (unusually

timed) adaptation of the classic that will be released this June. Why Snow White is so popular all of a sudden is beyond me,but the main difference seems to be that “Mirror Mirror” is a comedygeared towards a younger audience, while “Snow White and the Huntsman” will be more of an action drama focusing on Snow White as more of a warrior. Hopefully, “Huntsman”will be able to make the transition from fairy tale to big screen a little more gracefully.

My biggest frustration with this movie was not the poor performance from Snow White (Lily Collins). It wasn’t therelianceon mindless slapstick comedy, or lackluster jokes that the dwarves’ kept making about how pretty they thought Snow White was (which was a little weird because they were all a whole lot older than her). It wasn’t even the lack of explanations for random happenings that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Well, that was pretty frustrating, but more on that later. My biggest issue was all of the opportunities this movie missed out on to make it wittier.

This movie missed out on a million chances to connect with the audience — they could have made a reference to today’s pop culture, or thrown in a sarcastic character for comedic relief. They could have even poked fun at another fairy tale. But everything from the dwarfs’ names being changed for seemingly no reason at all (I don’t know why “Napoleon” or “Half Pint” were supposed to make me laugh) to the servant (Nathan Lane) who was turned into a cockroach for five minutes, the plot seemed disjointed, and the changes to the original story were anything but clever.

I don’t mean to rip this movie completely apart. Even though it did not live up to my expectations for clever humor, it wasn’t all bad. The one good thing it had going for it was the fact that it was visually stunning. In fact, the costumes, sets, and the beginning  were pretty much the only reason I could picture Julia Roberts as a queen or Lily Collins as a princess. The sets and costumes, unlike the plot, were able to stick to the theme of beautiful, but cold, metallic silvers and golds. “Mirror Mirror” owes countless thanks to its costume and set designers.

They also tried to give a new dimension to the story by adding a layer to Snow White that wasn’t in the original legend. Halfway through the movie, we see a desperate attempt at turning Snow White into a fearless female heroine. But since the effort to transform her into a more modern princess who fights for herself feels a bit hasty, we’re left feeling like the character has had an identity crisis more than anything.

Now back to one of the movie’s biggest faults — it’s weak characters and disconnected plot that left me utterly confused. The basic story can be followed easily, but only because the audience knows it well from childhood. Many of the major plot points, like the queen’s magical necklace or the evil beast that lurked in the forest, were left unexplained. But arguably the best example of the “wait… what?” element of this movie was the Bollywood number at the end. Yes, you read that right. The Bollywood number. I was left feeling so bewildered that I walked out then (don’t worry, the credits were already rolling). The plot and details of “Mirror Mirror” were so seemingly random and unusual that I felt like I was in three different movies.

Unfortunately, “Mirror Mirror” missed the mark at what could have been a fun, witty comedy thanks to a bland script and disjointed details. Unless you’re banished to a forbidden forest with only this for entertainment, I wouldn’t recommend this already stale flick.